A Very Large Bowl: Egg Pocket

My kids are little still, so we generally don't have to be anywhere early in the morning. I imagine that when my kids start school these will be indispensable on busy mornings. These are delicious and incredibly convenient as they can be eaten on the go. Even without having to go anywhere immediately, we still have these regularly. Plus they are popular with my kids.

The recipe I adapted these from calls for a roll of biscuit dough. The first time I made them I made homemade biscuit dough, and they were absolutely delicious! However, the crumbly flakiness of biscuits that made them so delicious was also very messy and not a breakfast you could eat anywhere but the table. I switched to making them with a soft dinner roll dough. Really you can modify this recipe in a lot of different ways. If you don't have a scale you can use any soft, roll dough that you like. Or you could use something like Rhodes rolls or frozen biscuit dough or biscuits or crescent rolls from a can. There are many options. You can also switch up the meat or add peppers and other vegetables. The recipe in the database has frozen rolls listed and that is what it adds to the shopping list as I figure that would be the most popular way to make them. If you want to make your own bread or use crescent rolls or something, you will need to modify the shopping list accordingly. Or you can modify the recipe in the 'Recipes' tab column R to whatever your preference.

Adapted from: Lemon Tree Dwelling and The Professional Pastry Chef
Difficulty: Moderate
Category: Breakfast
Recipe Column: R

Yield: 29

Filling:
2 tbsp butter
1 lb breakfast sausage
32 eggs
2 cups shredded cheddar

Dough:
2 oz active dry yeast
4 cups cold milk
2 lbs bread flour
1 lb 10 oz cake flour
3 tbsp salt
4 oz sugar
8 oz soft unsalted butter

Make Dough:

Dissolve the yeast in the milk. Add the flours, salt and sugar. Mix using a dough hook or by hand until the dough pulls into a ball. Add the butter and mix.
Kneed the dough until it is smooth and elastic.
Place the dough in a greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise until doubled in volume. Punch down and let double again.

Make Filling:

When the dough is close to ready, start the filling.
Melt the butter in a large, wide pan. Add the sausage and cook until brown. Stir regularly and break up chunks.
While the sausage is browning, crack the eggs into a bowl. Once the sausage is brown, add the eggs.
Cook the eggs, stirring regularly. The eggs will cook much faster and evenly if you cover the pan with a lid between stirs. Once the eggs are cooked, you can add the cheese, or you can save the cheese to sprinkle on while you assemble the pockets. I generally do the latter because I like finding gooey pockets of melted cheese when I eat a pocket, but mixing the cheese into the eggs is much faster.

Assemble:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Divide the dough into 3.5 oz pieces and roll into balls. Roll each ball into a circle about 1/4 inch thick and 5 inches in diameter.
Place 1/4 cup of filling in the center of the circle and sprinkle with cheese if you haven't added it already.
Fold the dough in half, covering the filling. Press the edges together then crimp the edge.
Place the pocket on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Let rise until puffy, about 15 to 30 minutes depending on how warm your kitchen is.
Bake 12 to 15 or when the pockets are golden brown on top. Let cook to room temperature.

To Freeze:

Freeze the pockets on a sheet tray. Once they are frozen solid, transfer to a container for storage.

To Serve:

Sprinkle 3 tablespoons of water over a clean kitchen towel. Squeeze the towel to distribute the moisture. It's okay if there are dry spots. Place an egg pocket on a plate and cover with the towel. If the pocket is thawed already, microwave for 1 minute. If the pocket is frozen, microwave for 3 minutes at 40% power and then 1 minute on high. Check the center of the egg pocket with a thermometer to ensure it has reached at least 140 degrees.